We made it to Oriental, NC…a lovely day after a frustrating mechanical delay in Morehead City.  After a long stretch on canal type cruising, we had the longest stretch in what seemed like Long Island Sound to us, but 12 ft debth max!  Pamlico Sound is a sailers haven most likely as it is large and deep enough.  We passed the most number of sail boaters today than previously.  The harbor is quaint , with a pool and great people running it.  The story is that a lot of folks came in their boats and decided to stay permanently! We dare say we did not “do town” but mainly because there wasn’t time to ready the boat and ourselves for the evening after arriving and settling by 6:00ish.  It was beastly hot and had to swim to chill a bit. The Marina had a wonderful band on the grounds so we thoroughly enjoyed their lifestyle for the evening!  

A CUTE FAMILY TIME ALONG THE WAY…it is Saturday!

THE TERRAIN IS BEGINNING TO CHANGE BECOMING A LITTLE MORE HILLY WITH PINE TREES NOW

This house wins all bets! Obviously a lover of all things colorful! a bright pink awning graces the side windows! love it!

THE CANAL FERL NOW WITH PINES AND OTHER TALL FOLIAGE ALONG THE SIDES

DAY PICNICS WITH TENTS AND BOATS AVOIDING THE HEAT WAVE

APPROACHING PAMLICO SOUND

THIS ONE IS FOR THE GRANDCHIILDREN!!!

ENTERING ORIENTAL HARBOR

From Georgetown, we successfully made it to Myrtle Beach Yacht Club.  We discovered the Myrtle Beach gnats…those pesty wave runners who jump your waves and add tension to your ride!  Most do not understand boating etiquette let alone safety, as a larger boat is not as quickly maneuvered as their little craft!  But if we ignore them, we do outrun them!  The gnats tend to run in packs…young and old. The scariest are those with 7-8 year olds flopping around in their joy ride!  

We passed under Sunset Beach bridge leading to the beaches of several dear snow birds we have visited!  The day was beautiful and we completed an 80+ mile run to Wrightsville beach,NC!  We stayed at Seapath Yacht Club where our great friends, Kathy and Sandy live.  I added their condo at the docks in photos.  Unfortunately, they were on a trip…but thanks for the goody bag left with the dock master! Yum!  With a courtesy car there, we could provision up and drive to restaurants.  A GREAT stopping place!

June 12, yesterday, was another great ride day.  The skies were black when we left at 7:35am but only a slight shower ensued.  We caught the 8AM WB bridge opening!  A large storm stayed off shore the entire day so we were blessed again to be able to push forward.  We are OK with pushing this trip, because we have seen so many places we want to explore another time and need to keep our deadline.  Everyday is like sitting under a big beach umbrella watching the beautiful scenery pass by! The ICW is one of our national wonders! Dredging is needed to keep it open especially in Georgia…but this could get political, so I will move on!

We arrived in Morehead City Friday evening in time to catch the parade of large craft finishing The Big Rock Marlin Tournament! It is one of the largest tournaments and is held yearly according to our friends!  The dock was rowdy but we were too tired to care! Happy Saturday!  Weekends are full of pleasure craft, traffic increases and we will post later about those gnats!  Hopefully,they will not show up today…of course, I didn’t mention the kid dragging another kid on a tube fast who wanted to circle us to wave jump approaching Wrightsville Beach!  I am talking in no wake areas too!!!!  I got a high five wave though!

A fun looking kayak class getting ready to start the class!

A FUN LOOKING BEACH ALONG THE WAY

OUR ANSWER TO STILL AND HUMID AIR WHILE DRIVING UP TOP!

there is an old wives tale we just heard…do not keep babanas on board…she must have had lots of bananas!

YESTERDAY THE COLOR WAS MAGENTA. TODAY IT IS ORANGE!

SANDY AND KATHYS BEAUTIFUL CONDO ON THE SEAPATH YACHT CLUB DOCKS! BEAUTIFUL!

AFTER DINNER ON THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AT THE OCEANIC RESTAURANT, WE WALKED THE PIER!

WE MADE THE 8:00AM bridge opening at Wrightsville Beach…

NOW THE COLOR IS PINK! THEY EVEN HAVE A WATERSLIDE!

CAMP LEJEUNE

GREEN IS THE COLOR NOW!

THE PARADE OF BOATS RETURNING FROM THE BIG ROCK TOURNAMENT CATCHING MARLIN! MANY ENDED UP AT OUR DOCKS!

THE DOCKS AT MOREHEAD CITY MARINA WERE FULL OF FISHING TIURNAMENT ENTREES. THIS WAS THE LAST DAY!

get ready for a rowdy night!!! last night of a long tournament!

BUCKET LIST WEARING THE ICW moustache!

After a fight with the tide to leave Georgetown, we won! And wonderful dock mate from Holland came to help us. He had just sailed the Atlantic by sailboat with his wife and is headed to Boston. Very impressive!  We left Georgetown after being on the boat all day yesterday because of rain, lightning and thunder. There’s always a lot to do anyway on the boat!  I must admit I was disappointed because friends kept writing me about shops that were so cool there. Duncan was thrilled that I was on the boat helping him!
The ICW today was very flat beautiful scenery and wonderful cypress trees. We both felt like we were in a forest of nothing but Cyprus and it was beautiful. As we approached Myrtle Beach the homes became more impressive, much larger and there was more boating traffic. We made it to Myrtle Beach yacht club by 330, fueled up, Added water, pumped out and decided to have a very early dinner as we had skipped lunch.  The sky looked a little threatening after we arrived however the any thunderstorm skirted around us and we had an afternoon without rain. The Tranquality of the ICW leaves us without any desire to party in town. What!?Edit

Morning has broken!ready for a new adventure to Myrtle Beach!

Cyprus tree lined path called the ICW

seen better days?

A rowing team practicing…

Osprey nest with babies! this one is for Linda!

A friendly wave…see the next photo

  They made a point of circling our wake twice   

Baby cyprus making its own statement

nice schooner on the Waccamaw river

Cyprus trees love their water environment

another BUCKET LIST!

Working on the ICW …

Now we know we are in MyrtleBeach! Mary and Jill’s shopping grounds

The entrance to the Yacht Club

Definitely the most COLORFUL home in Myrtle Beach!

We are presently in Georgetown, South Carolina.  Our intention was to leave this morning for Myrtle Beach; however, after Duncan checked the engine room he found a belt that needed to be replaced. We were blessed that nothing happened while we were underway.  There is a great mechanic at this Marina and he has found any problems and is in the process of fixing them. The guidebook actually states “A visit to Georgetown certainly calls for at least a days layover, longer if you want to explore some of the outlying plantations.” Well it looks like we will be here today!  

We walked into town last night and ate at a charming restaurant called Riverhouse.  The Southern style of cooking is absolutely wonderful as you all know.The town reminds me of Bristol Rhode Island.  The  Main Street is full of adorable shopping with museums and a lot of great looking historical places to explore. We may have to do that this afternoon as most of the day is gone right now it looks like we’ll be spending another night here in 

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Front Street is a beautiful tree-lined street with amazing homes and Gardens.

A mural of the town of Georgetown as if one was looking from a porch

    Georgetown. This is giving me a little time to catch up on the blog as after we left Beaufort South Carolina, I have not had a chance to post. When we left Beaufort for Charleston on Sunday we had a beautiful calm day and very calm seas.The ICW is usually very calm which is proving to be very nice. There were some fun looking picnics along the way by boaters -take note in the picture of the picnickers standing in the water waste high!  As we approached Charleston the wind picked up blowing 15 to 20 knots and the traffic seem to pick up also. Most boaters were going very fast, I guess trying to get to their ports.  Charleston Harbor was full of Sunday afternoon traffic. Fortunately there were no huge tankers or commercial traffic. 

We made it to Charleston maritime marina around 6pm.  We were quite far from downtown but we walked into town and ate at a recommended place.One of their specialties was stuffed hush puppies. Of course they were stuffed with crab and shrimp! 

We left Charleston by 9AM with the destination of Georgetown South Carolina. I’m trying to learn how to caption the photos so will try to do that with the next ones. I guess we are off to explore Georgetown this afternoon! We are also back in the weather pattern of thunderstorms in the afternoon therefore even a late leaving of Georgetown might not make sense as we would most likely encounter thunder lightning etc. before we would make Myrtle Beach.We could possibly have to stop along the way anyway. With this being our first and only mechanical stop so far, I guess you would say this is good! We are having a great time still and plan to be back on the ICW tomorrow! 
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Beaufort SC home gracing the ICW as we left!

The calm waters along the way from Beaufort to Charleston.

The food truck for the picnic boaters waist deep! It is blowing at least 15 knots with large waves !

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Charleston brick homes on waterfront

Our ride from dinner back to the boat!

We left Savannah at noon today.  Skies were beautiful and more memories were made with family!  To be honest, I was a little nervous because I thought the crossing over into Savannah River was going to be pretty full of large tankers etc. It took us five minutes  today to cross the savanna River and we laughed over my angst. The entire trip was just beautiful with blue skies billowy clouds and A lot of joy experiencing the inland waterway along the Georgia Lowcountry. Along the way we passed Daufuskie Island ,where we almost settled, and things looks beautiful from the water. We then crossed into the Hilton head area and enjoy the large homes from the beautiful Port Royal Sound , which was the staging point for the SeWe left Savannah at noon today. Skies were beautiful and more memories were made with family! To be honest I was a little nervous because I thought the crossing over into Savannah River was going to be pretty full of large tankers etc. It took us five minutes today to cross the savanna River and we laughed over my angst. The entire trip was just beautiful with blue skies billowy clouds and A lot of joy experiencing the inland waterway along the Georgia Lowcountry. Along the way we passed Daufuskie Island ,where we almost settled, and things looks beautiful from the water. We then crossed into the Hilton head area and enjoyed the large homes from the beautiful Port Royal Sound , which was the staging point for the Seige of port Pulaski in the winter of 1862. In the late 1861, 77 ships were brought from Washington to start the blocking of the southern ports. Charleston and Savannah were the primary ports for the blockading. It is really rewarding to see these waters first hand and see what the troops must have experienced from the water. This happened in January and it must’ve been freezing. Today was very humid and definitely not freezing!

We passed byThe Marine basic training compound Parris Island. We commented on how hot it was and how hard it would be for basic training during today’s weather. We approached Beaufort sc with dark thunderstorms looming and again had to race to beat the storm.this time we were not totally lucky being able to tie up in dry weather. There was lightning thunder and the beginning of rain as we tied up and winds were strong however different people from adjoining boats raced  to help us tie up and we watch the rest of the storm safely from our cabin. After walking to town when the rains ceased we found a great restaurant called Q and enjoy a wonderful dinner of brisket barbecue and blackened shrimp. The southern green beans are to die for! 

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Fortunately the food on this trip has been amazing! I am trying to figure out how to label the photographs I submit but I’m trying to put them in the correct order. Our plan is to leave Beaufort early and hopefully arrive in Charleston at a reasonable hour , before thunderstorms!!!

We left Kilkenny on a high tide wanting to be sure to pass through Hellgate, a short but shoaling passage heading into the river system leading to Savannah.  This was great as the lowest water we had was 8’and change.  The scenery along the way was breathtaking…low counry beauty! With only overhead clouds seeming to want to rain on us  but never doing it, the day seemed like a bonus and we made it to Savannah Yacht Club by noon!  Visiting family is always great here.  We were able to see our sister in law, nephew and family, and generations of graves in beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery.  There is no doubt that God’s handiwork expresses His love for us in this beautiful place!  Staying through the 5th has afforded us to see folks without being rushed.  Duncan’s great great grandfathers house tour was a highlight as well as the beautiful weather we had while here!  We are off to South Carolina tomorrow! 

Wehad a delightful trip from Fernandina Beach Marina to our present spot in Brunswick Georgia! We crossed into Georgia around 9:30 AM and had to watch our depth ferociously as we had heard many different people talk about the depths of water in the Georgia waters being skeptical. We actually are staying at the cutest place in Brunswick called Hidden Harbor Marina. It is given that name as we had to go down a creek where we had 3.3 feet of clearance which was a little scary but we made it. We are expecting to be in Savannah tomorrow night,where we will be with our nephew and his family and our sister-in-law Joan. We’re excited to do that.  We  

 have a big day ahead of us to make it on time but we can do it. I will add pictures of our ride from Fernandina Beach Marina. Our weather has been exciting because we keep beating storms and making into Safe harbors safely!Edit

fernandina beach marina 

A wonderful town…pastel colored buildings with many different types of shopping and restaurants.  We only had time to experience the latter! We ate at a wonderful restaurant called Crab Trap in which we had a great fisherman’s platter with grilled local fish at wonderful deviled crab etc. We truly enjoyed it! We raced i port to beat a storm and we managed to tie up dry. However after dinner was a different story we had to race back to the boat in a huge downpour with lightning and thunder in the rest of the evening. In the morning we fueled up as it was a very easy location to do so and headed out by 930. We crossed into Georgia waters and have Glass like waters and a somewhat cloudy sky with predictions of possible late afternoon thunderstorms again. I will post some more pictures again of today and let you know where we stop tonight. It is fun not having a schedule we just know we have a goal!Edit Edit

Morning broke with thunder showers keeping us in bed…but we made it away by 7:50 am anyway.  The water was calm, flat and the sky was an inviting blue. All in all it was a perfect day in which we decided to keep going and stop at Palm coast which is about 25  miles north of Daytona Beach.  We must have commented 100 times how beautiful this area is in Florida.  Fishing abounds and the number of small beaches off islandS or along the coast are amazing. It is a delightful place to think about raising a family.  This part of Daytona Beach is different from the crowded beaches but the area south and into the waterway near the city was crazy with fast boats, wakes and many small and large craft enjoying a beautiful Sunday!  We had our racing dolphin pals again…today there were three! Passing through the bascule bridges reminds us of Mystic’s.  From palatial mansions to great looking motor home parks, today’s drive gave an unusual variety of living accommodations!  Hope you are able to access all our photos.  We are truly enjoying this decision to bring Bucket List back to CT.  Enjoy your evening!  FYI…notice the photo of Aphrodite from Watch Hill which passed us south of Daytona on her journey back to the Ocean House!  Small world! 

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We moved from Ft Pierce City Marina to Cocoa Village Marina which took 7hours 10 minutes.  Starting out the weather looked great but as verified with radar a rain shower moved in…and our enclosure up top kept everything very dry!  The remainder of the day was beautiful.  We had one more downpour, but a quick zip up is easy!  Mild winds and sunny skies prevailed which gave us another delightful day.

We had following Dolphins slapping in the chase beside us again.  Pelicans diving for food and surprisingly fewer boats than expected.  A perfectly delightful day ending it at Thai Thai for dinner to vicariously celebrate with Andrew and Ari 6 years of a great marriage!  The restaurant is in the quaint historical village of Cocoa.  The could house many tourists for the shuttle launches during those days. A cute place to stop and browse but our time was needed to rest for an early start on Sunday.